Kids’ essay contest to tell how the troll story begins

Share this:

What’s a troll really look like? Where’s one come from? How old is a troll? The organizers of the Vallejo Waterfront Weekend leave it up to Vallejo’s youth in a summer essay contest until July 24. – courtesy photo

Trolls are creepy critters, dining on unsuspecting humans and being a general nuisance.

Or are they?

Actually, said Erin Bakke, the mythical creatures can be grumpy, kind, cruel, or mellow depending on a culture’s interpretation. And, in a contest presented by the Vallejo Waterfront Weekend, local students grade three through high school get a chance to offer their creative explanation of “The Troll Story” in a storytelling essay of 500 words or less.

Actual trolls — artwork of about 10, anyway — will be painted by youth and attached to the support beams under the Mare Island Causeway. Noted Vallejo artist Miro Salazar, instructors Alvaro Garcia and Rita Iravani supervise.

“It started out as just a mural project and someone said, ‘Let’s put trolls under the bridge,’” said Bakke, main organizer of the Troll project.

“Once we started thinking about that, we thought ‘What is the story? How did they get under the bridge? Did they swim there from the Napa River?’ ‘How old are they?’ And here we have all these creative kids in Vallejo who can tell their story of how they think the trolls got there. It’s a way to help make it fun.”

So the essay contest is underway with the support of the school district, Vallejo Main Street, Vallejo Arts Alliance and the Times-Herald.

“It’s a great community collaboration,” Bakke said. “So many people are involved and excited about it.”

The project “not just the visual arts, but the storytelling art and involves the kids and the businesses that have donated money and prizes to make it happen,” said Bakke, encouraging Vallejo students from public and private schools to research trolls online or in the library to get some ideas.

“There are troll stories from around the world and many cultures have many versions of this mythological creature,” Bakke said. “They’re generally considered mischievous, some cultures with a little more malice, some more playful. We’re free to interpret the story how we want for our town.”

Bakke said Iravani is behind the essay contest, “an important component” to the project.

The essay deadline is July 24, with entries available at vallejowaterfrontweekend.com, and can be done online or dropped off at JFK Library.

Judges will select the top three stories in each of the three categories — grades 3 to 5, 6 to 8, and 9 to 12 — and the top essays will be published in the Times-Herald. Prizes include passes to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Criteria includes creativity, original content and style.

Once the essay contest ends, the mural component kicks in, Bakke said, with arts academy students handling the task.

“I love this project because it engages our youth,” Bakke said.

The path under the causeway is bleak at the moment, Bakke said, with most people walking the path past the Sardine Can and Coast Guard facility “and turn around because it’s been a scary place that nobody wants to go.”

With the murals up, “we’re reclaiming the space,” said Bakke, saying city officials and school superintendent Dr. Ramona Bishop “have been very supportive.”

The Troll Project links with the Vallejo Waterfront Weekend, said Bakke.

“One of the goals is to celebrate that we have a wonderful waterfront,” Bakke said. “And to enjoy the space as a community.”

Bakke expects a QR Code is available at the troll site so visitors with the proper app have access to the essay entries “and the stories remain a living part of the project.”